Theme
The theme for the Great Gatsby would have to be that no matter how hard someone may try, they still may not be able to accomplish his or her American dream. Each of the characters represents different failures and successes in their American dream, but no one really completely gets to what they want.
Tom for example a prime character who has basically everything he needs due to his background of money and his current job, but he’s not exactly happy with everything that’s going on because he wants his life with daisy and also have an affair with myrtle, but never let his wife really know. As the story tells that never really happens because myrtle is unfortunately killed and then he just went back to his life with Daisy and wasn’t fully happy, which means his American dream basically failed.
There is also the main character that the whole entire is about really, and that is Jay Gatsby. He started his life out as a poorer person and then met a beautiful maiden Daisy who was rich and then he had to go to war and he didn’t see her again for 4 years. He built up his whole huge empire of money and things and threw many parties all for Daisy, but in the end he never got her.
Basically the whole story was about a bunch of people who failed to achieve their American dream, even the ones that give up everything to try and achieve it.
Literary Devices
Fitzgerald explores many literary devices in writing his book the Great Gatsby like imagery, characterization, exposition, and motif.
He has this whole elaborate color motif that is seen throughout his whole story especially the whole gold and green color. For example his car was a gold type color on the outside to try and show that he was from old money but on the interior it was green representing that on the inside he was from new money. Most people at that time didn’t trust people with new money because they probably came by it through some sort of dirty deals and if he wanted to be with daisy he would have to present himself in an old money manner. Also another one to go with color was white, it showed that the person was of course rich, because most of the people in that time who were rich were also very white and people who worked out in the field and were of lower class were tan usually.
Fitzgerald also uses characterization well, his description of tom being this football player or a brute that breaks many things that he touches. People can get a pretty vivid image just from thinking of how he can break things and then the football player kind of physique.
Something that is also well done in his work is his exposition. He explains through nick the narrator, Gatsby’s past and also his own past even though he was basically an invisible character in most parts of the story.
Imagery was a decently common literary device in the story. The one that most comes to mind to me is when nick starts describing all of the shirts he started to pull out of his closet all of the colors and designs.
STYLE
Fitzgerald’s style in this book was different than I have ever read before mainly due to the fact that he narrated through a character in the story Nick, who wasn’t really one of the main characters of the book. Another thing in the book that was different is there was almost never a dull moment, he got straight to different events constantly even if they were spread apart by days or weeks or months at a time. But he made sure that all the main characters were explained through all the jumping around in time.
Having Nick as a narrator was fascinating because he was at almost every single large squabble that went on in the book, but he was never really involved with them. Also, throughout his whole stay in New York he is working on his bond business, but it’s never really mentioned because it was never part of any good story making squabbles, and he didn’t really need it because he was being taken care of by his dad for the year that he is over in New York. But, because of his elusiveness the reader can focus more on the other characters that they really need to focus on because Nick is in the background watching and sometimes the reader might not even notice Nick is narrating at all.
He also did a fantastic job at concealing Gatsby’s actual mode of income and where he was from until the reader gets to know him well and pick out their own understanding of how Gatsby is. Therefore Gatsby was a very mysterious man, throwing all these extravagant parties and meeting up with all the shady characters especially Wolfshiem, where Nick was told of how he rigged the world series and got away with it, which would bring up a lot of suspicion in the reader and just shows how great Fitzgerald is at writing.
PLOT
The beginning of the plot is marked by Nick showing that he is of wealthy decent and that he is moving over to New York where his friend Daisy and her husband Tom, who cheated on her.
The end of the plot is marked by Tom explaining what he had done to Gatsby and then his utterance about Myrtle and how he cried like a baby.
The middle of the plot goes as follows, Nick is informed of Gatsby after meeting Miss Baker, Nick is informed of what Jordan Baker does, Nick goes with Tom to meet Toms mistress, Nick goes to a party with Tom and his mistress Myrtle, Nick gets invited to one of Gatsby’s parties, Nick meets Jordan at the party, Nick meets Gatsby, but doesn’t know it’s actually him he just thinks it’s some random guy then finds out it is he, Jordan is inquired to meet with Gatsby, Nick has lunch with Gatsby and meets Wolfshiem for the first time and learns he rigged the world series, Nick asks Gatsby about his past and is shown Gatsby’s various medals and pictures, Jordan tells Nick to invite Daisy to tea at his house with Gatsby also, Gatsby is nervous at Daisy’s arrival but then gets back into old rhythms that he used to be in with her, Nick tells Gatsby’s whole past, Daisy goes to one of Gatsby’s parties, Daisy starts visiting Gatsby often and Gatsby fires his servants and hires new ones, Gatsby goes on a train with Tom, Daisy, Jordan, and Nick, Everyone makes their way to town Gatsby with Daisy and Tom with Nick and Jordan, but Tom has to stop and refuel Gatsby’s vehicle at Wilsons garage, Tom calls Gatsby out on his plans with Daisy and then they get into a fight over her, but not physical just verbal, on the drive home Tom saw myrtles dead body, a rich African American described the car who hit Myrtle, Tom drove back to his house and arranged for a taxi for Nick and Nick met Gatsby in a bush outside Tom’s house and Nick was informed that Daisy was driving confused and angry, Gatsby finally uses his pool but ends up getting shot by Wilson and Daisy isn’t informed or doesn’t care, Gatsby’s father came and admired what he had done for himself and his American dream of pride for his son basically came to life and was fulfilled, Wolfshiem writes a letter to Nick informing him that he couldn’t be there, and then the funeral goes on and then the end happens.
The events logically lead to an end with Gatsby’s American dream crushed, everyone else’s is basically crushed around him and the story ends.
The plot is very episodic, but basically everything that happens has some sort of importance that relates to the story.
The sum of events ultimately meant that no Matter how hard you may try an American dream may not be possible to achieve.
The climax of the story would have to be when Gatsby got shot because the rest of the story was a basic downfall because everyone’s dreams were crushed and nothing progressed further.
Gatsby when he tries to make Daisy confess her love for him, but in doing that she realizes that she actually did use to love Tom and now that she had killed his mistress in the process of going home he was basically forced to be more faithful and it was easier for her to forget about Gatsby.
The main recognition in the book was when Nick discovers what Gatsby’s whole past is about and how he built up his whole empire for Daisy.
There are two deaths and those are of the two people who are having affairs with both members of the Buchannons and then the mistresses husband also, and things get better and better in the story but after Gatsby finally met with Tom the story went on a steep downward fall for Gatsby.
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